Chapter 90: Down To Business

Chapter 90: Down To Business
Damian Black's POV:

I couldn't believe this was how things were starting out on the day after I was wed. I had always known that Nadine had her mind set on being a certain way, but she didn't have to act out in the manner in which she was making it come across right in front of everyone. I continued to shake my head back and forth as I made my way to the other cabin.

Finally, after I managed to walk through the next entryway, I reached the meeting room. This room housed a meeting table in the center. It was a long, skinny table but a hardwood table nonetheless. This gave me the opportunity to discuss business meetings or lay out certain plans when the time arose. However, no sooner had I entered the room than I heard Matthew speak.

I looked directly at him when he said, "Boss, we have some news that you need to be made aware of."

"What news is that?" I couldn't help but ask again before I took my seat at the head of the table.

Once I was seated, I happened to notice that several of my men around the table had exchanged what I could only make out as nervous looks before they all turned to look back at me. This alone caused me to narrow my brows as I looked over at Andre. We were both in the dark about what had previously been discussed before we entered the room.

"Well, don't just hold onto it. Go on, tell me what it is," I said as I leaned back in my chair and started to rock it slightly as I interlocked my fingers. I even pressed my thumbs together lightly before placing my elbows on the arms of my chair. Then I spoke next when I said, "Don't wait all day. Tell me what it is."

"We do believe we may have a lead," Clay spoke up at that moment.

"A lead?" Andre asked before I had the opportunity to say anything else.

I was pleased to hear this. A possible lead? I looked forward to knowing exactly what it had to do with it

"Now is this according to Dr. Guzmin or it is according to..." I started to say, letting my statement draw out a bit as I looked around at everyone sitting there at the table.

It was in that precise moment that I could tell that there was a growing sense of tension, which was starting to stand out in the atmosphere of the room. I again took yet another look over at Andre, and he lightly narrowed his eyes in response to picking up on this as well. We both shared an intriguing look before he stared off in the other direction, and then his head turned to meet his gaze.

I was intrigued by all of this. I wanted to know what it had to do with. I knew my men had something important they needed to share. It just came down to one of two things. Either the whereabouts of Kelly Anne or the information that Dr. Guzmin had for me. At this point in the conversation, it could be anyone's guess.

"This little bit of news has everything to do with Kelly Anne," Gerald happened to speak up as he reached up and began to rub the back of his neck.

I turned to look at him fully and then realized something specific. By him rubbing the back of his neck, I knew this was his telltale sign of possible mental anguish. It was either that or the fact that he was quite nervous.

I looked down briefly as I thought about something. It wasn't all that often that Gerald got nervous. About much of anything, for that matter. However, when he did, it usually had to do with bringing me information, as he wasn't exactly sure how I would take the bit of news he had yet to say.

Whether it was him or one of the other men who had obtained that particular bit of information, I knew that when it came to something important, they would certainly have discussed it among themselves before bringing it to my attention. No doubt... I didn't care about any of that. I just needed to know, trying to figure out exactly who would be the one to spill the beans.

"Just out with it," Andre spoke up at that moment as nobody else had yet to say anything up to this point, as they continued to share random looks of nervousness around the room.

I could definitely tell by Andre's sudden outburst that his frustration level had already met its max due to the light of constant questions Nadine gave me before we left the other room. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I lightly shook my head before looking back across the table to see who would speak up first.

It was one thing to bring information to me. It was another to bring me half-assed information. Bringing the information that didn't exactly tell me much of anything. That had happened before, and my men were fully aware of what had happened in the past. The result that they received in the end was less than ideal.

Now granted, it has been many years since I lost my cool... it may have been time and time again, but things were different now. Things were not as they were from before. Now I was more levelheaded. Things have changed. Even my position had changed as Germaine gave me the news I had so long been waiting to hear.

So, whatever it was that they had to say, I bet it wasn't all that bad. I could definitely deal with it. I just needed to know precisely what it was that they had yet to speak of.

"It was an SUV," Nathan just so happened to speak up as he began to rub his nose and mouth. That was his telltale sign of tension. "There was a blacked-out SUV."

"Really..." I said in that moment.

I again pressed my lips in a fine line as I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out exactly who it was that could have come in and retrieved her from the hospital. I knew by her earlier text that she was probably no longer there. Although there was something I couldn't get past.

If her condition was as bad as the initial report from Dr. Guzmin, how was it that she was able to get checked out of the hospital? I am pretty sure the hospital would never let her out of her current condition. This was a question I needed to ask, but now is not the right time. As far as I knew, she was supposed to have a police guard standing at her door, given how everything went down.

I guess they didn't think she'd be able to do such a thing either. Did she somehow give them the slip as well? I had a lot of unanswered questions. Questions that would need to be answered before I returned to the States.